enjoying every second of life and running

2011 Chicago Marathon Expo

Friday Rob and I went to yoga, had lunch and then went up to the 2011 Chicago Marathon Expo. The expo like past years did not disappoint. It was easy to get around, there were lots of merchandise options, and the vibe was all marathon. Rob and I got our bibs and made our way to the Nike store to get some official gear. We both went for the track suit top in black and Rob also got a very soft bright blue long sleeved 3/4 zip running shirt.

Afterward we got the Chicago Marathon shirt that comes with the bag and I have to say it was a bit of a let down. White? And the design wasn’t stellar. Nothing I would go out of my way to wear so good thing we bought some gear.

While walking around we happened upon one of our running idols and legends, Dean Karnazes signing autographs and taking pictures at the VW booth. The VW booth was strict about not taking personal photos and instead had a professional photographer on site. They said they will upload a professional photo to a site that you could then download/share/print, score!

Dean is seriously so kind and gracious. He seemed genuinely interested in chatting with us and signed each of our bibs. Then we had our picture taken.

Here is a picture of our bibs signed by Dean.

After we left Dean we were figuring out what to do next when a man came up saying “Fly Runner”. It was Omar! He was super nice and I got a quick picture with him, it may be a bit blurry. Omar thanks for reading my blog and for saying hi! I hope you had a good race and weekend!

Up next Rob and I found our names on the Nike wall.

On our way out we noticed the Chicago Marathon trophy on display, it is quite impressive!

After the expo we went out for a nice 5 mile run by the lake. My hamstrings have been tight for over a week and this run I could still feel it. I’ve been doing yoga, foam rolling, biofreeze, and massage. Sometimes these things just take time and I’m out of time. It was at least improving. So I just hope for the best that another day of rest will bring enough relief to make through the race in one piece.

We cleaned up and went to dinner at P. F. Chang’s, dessert at Pinkberry, and grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s. It was a perfect day!

Thanks Omar! I’m so glad you said hi! I hope your race went well and that you had a fun weekend in Chicago too. Please keep me posted on your next big race, hopefully we will meet up at a future expo again. 🙂

I know this is a long shot but do you remember the site to retrieve the photo with Dean? I had my pic taken with him on the following day, the ninth. I’ve been looking everywhere online to find the site and its bugged me for over a year! Can you help me with this?? Please?

I know your frustration. I remember I had to dig around in the website they shared to find it and it was almost a month before my picture was posted. I’m looking through old email to see if I can find that website. I’ll post a response if I find it.